New training and research facility debuts at NPTC

A hands-on training seminar on April 19 was the first event held at the National Poultry Technology Center’s new equipment testing and evaluation house, the only facility in the nation dedicated solely to testing and refining equipment to improve poultry farming efficiency and profitability.

With the summer months approaching, the National Poultry Technology Center at Auburn University hosted about 80 poultry managers and technicians April 19 for a hands-on training seminar on hot-weather housing, ventilation and equipment issues.

The event was the first held at the NPTC’s new equipment testing and evaluation house, the only facility in the nation dedicated solely to testing and refining equipment to improve poultry farming efficiency and profitability. The facility is located at the new Charles C. Miller Jr. Poultry Research and Education Center, located north of Auburn’s main campus.

“The ability to measure some of the environmental factors in poultry houses, such as humidity or fan RPMs (revolutions per minute), is valuable to bird growth and health, and those are factors we cannot guess at,” said Jim Donald, NPTC director. “A research and training facility like this enables technicians, managers and others in the industry to learn how these technologies work and to practice with them to see how they could improve their own operations.”

Representatives of leading commercial poultry companies, such as Tyson, Pilgrims, Koch, Keystone, Ingram Farms and others, attended the technology center’s first training seminar. Donald said the NPTC plans to offer about six seminars a year on topics and technologies most relevant to poultry producers across the country.